Union Leadership Hopes Company Will Still Place 777X Production In Puget Sound Region

Sixty-seven percent of members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) District 751, District W-24 voted Wednesday to reject the Boeing Company’s offer of an eight-year contract extension that would have expired in 2024.

“Today, the democratic process worked and our members made the decision to not accept the company’s proposal. It is my belief that we represent the best aerospace workforce in the world and hope that as a result of this vote Boeing will not discard our skills when looking to place the 777X," IAM District 751 Directing Business Representative Tom Wroblewski said in a statement.

“We preserved something sacred by rejecting the Boeing proposal. We’ve held on to our pensions and that’s big. At a time when financial planners are talking about a ‘retirement crisis’ in America, we have preserved a tool that will help our members retire with more comfort and dignity.”

"We are very disappointed in the outcome of the union vote. Our goal was two-fold: to enable the 777X and its new composite wing to be produced in Puget Sound and to create a competitive structure to ensure that we continue market-leading pay, health care and retirement benefits while preserving jobs and our industrial base here in the region," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "But without the terms of this contract extension, we're left with no choice but to open the process competitively and pursue all options for the 777X.

"I'd like to thank Governor Jay Inslee and the Washington state legislature for all their efforts in this process. We had hoped for a different outcome."

“I believe Washington is still the best place to build the 777X, but the hill just got steeper,” Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA-02) (pictured) said in a prepared statement. “We now need to be prepared for an intense competition with other states and countries that want these jobs.

“The commercial aerospace industry is changing rapidly, and Washington needs to change with it to stay competitive. We are no longer in a Boeing and Airbus world. We need to be prepared for new entrants from Canada, Brazil, China and elsewhere that are eager for a portion of the growing aerospace industry.

“Gov. Inslee and other state leaders have been determined advocates to bring the 777X to Washington. I remain determined to work with them to show why our state is still the best place in the world to build airplanes.”

FMI: www.boeing.com. www.iam751.org